


ashes, ashes (we all fall down)

by exarite



Series: Spooky Shippy Stories 2018 [6]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Child Abuse, F/M, Fairy Tale Style, Fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-20 23:58:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16565609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exarite/pseuds/exarite
Summary: prompt: Little Sakura sells her soul to the talking fire in the chimney. He promises to keep her safe and warm until the day he is to collect her soul, consumed by fire and asphyxiated by the blacken smoke. Death by fire, he say gravely, to which she eagerly agrees as long as he keeps her safe from the monster that married her mama.





	ashes, ashes (we all fall down)

**Author's Note:**

> uhhhh day 6

  
"Do you trust me?" He asked. His grip was tight on her arms. His eyes were a crimson red. The world narrowed down until all Sakura could see was his red eyes, desperate eyes.

*

Once upon time there lived a little girl in a little cabin off the woods. Now, her father had long ago died and her mother thought that the little girl should have another father. And so the mother married a new man and the little girl found herself with a new step-father.

Now, what the mother did not know was that the step-father was a wicked step-father, and frequently yelled and threatened to hurt the little girl.

In their little cabin, the family had a fireplace and a chimney.

And in the fireplace, was a talking flame.

"Why are you crying, little girl?" he asked, for one day the little girl had collapsed into a fit of tears beside his fireplace.

"My step-father is a monster!" she cried, and continued to sob some more tears, as upset little girls do. She sniffled and dried her tears as she asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Madara, child," the talking fire answered. "I can help you, if you want."

"Oh, you would?" the little girl gasped.

"I'll keep you safe and warm from monsters," Madara solemnly promised. "But what will you give me in return?"

"Anything!"

Madara pretended to think it over, even if he already knew what he wanted to ask from her.

"Death by fire," he finally said, his voice grave. "When you die, your soul is mine."

The little girl agreed.

("Why would she agree?" Naruto asked in disbelief, and Sakura's lips twisted into a sad smile.

"Desperate girls do desperate things.")

*

"Do you trust me?" He asked. His grip was tight on her arms. His eyes were a crimson red. The world narrowed down until all Sakura could see was his red eyes, desperate eyes.

"Yes," Sakura breathed.

*

Once upon a time, there lived a wicked man in a little cabin off the woods.

One day, the wicked man came home, smelling like the bar of the little town, the pungent smell of alcohol and smoke. He had a bottle in hand as he stumbled into the living room.

The wicked man tripped on a toy that the little girl had forgotten to clean up, and then he transformed.

His features turned into a terrifying, horrifying mask. His face turned red with rage, his size doubling, tripling. He was a monster! A great, big, horrible monster!

"You stupid bitch!" The monster roared, waving his bottle. The little girl who was curled up next to the warmth of the fireplace stared up at him in horror and scrambled backward in a desperate effort to get away from him.

"I'm sorry!" she cried. But the monster did not care, because monsters don't care for little girl screams. Monsters only want to hurt, and hurt, and hurt.

The horrible monster smashed his bottle on the side of the wall and held out the broken pieces in front of him. He advanced towards her, and the little girl scurried back towards the safety of the fire until she could feel its heat behind her back.

"Dumb cunt!" The monster yelled, his arm going back as he brought down the bottle down on her.

The little girl closed her eyes and then--

Fire rushed around her, but like the sea parting under Moses' staff, the little girl was left unharmed, the fire parting into split streams on either side of her.

("The fire killed her stepfather." Sasuke stated blandly.

Sakura returned a smile just as bland. "Well, of course. He promised her, didn't he?")

*

"Do you trust me?" He asked. His grip was tight on her arms. His eyes were a crimson red. The world narrowed down until all Sakura could see was his red eyes, desperate eyes.

"Yes," Sakura breathed.

The fire rose around them, vicious flame, suffocating smoke.

She _burned_.

*

Once upon a time, there lived a woman in a little cabin off the woods. She had loved her husband and had thought that they had finally had their happily ever after. But happily ever after's only exist in fairytales, and as much as this sounds like one, it isn't.

And so when her beloved husband died, the widow found herself a new husband.

The widow came home one day and found her beloved little cabin up in flames.

"Sakura!" the widow screamed. There was nothing left of her little cabin, and there was nothing left of her little girl. Only ashes. The cabin collapsed, taking everything inside with it.

The little girl had promised a death by fire in return for protection from the monster. The flame in the fireplace had never told her when it would collect.

("So what happened next?" Naruto breathed as he leaned in, his eyes wide as saucers. Beside him, Sasuke tried to give off an air of disinterest, but the gleam in his eye was familiar and Sakura smiled.

"She died. And her soul was his.")

*

"Do you trust me?" He asked. His grip was tight on her arms. His eyes were a crimson red. The world narrowed down until all Sakura could see was his red eyes, desperate eyes

"Yes," Sakura breathed.

The fire rose around them, vicious flame, suffocating smoke.

She _burned_.

"Like a phoenix," he breathed, "You are reborn."

*

Once upon a time, there lived a woman in a little apartment in the city. She had pink hair, and burn scabs on her wrists. She was a beautiful young woman, always kind and sweet to all.

The woman had a husband, and sometimes little children called him a monster because of his red eyes, his wild, thick black hair, and because of the way fire responded to him.

But the woman knew what a real monster looked like, and so all she did was smile.

There were monsters that looked like men, monsters like her step-father.

And there were men that looked like monsters but had a heart of gold. 

**Author's Note:**

> this is RLY late and im so sorry HAHAH i had a halloween party, and my SO and i were having (and are still having) problems. and this fic just wouldnt cooperate??? it was so hard to write. prompt was by maybe-please again yay
> 
> i'm on [tumblr](senju-sandwich.tumblr.com)!


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